1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a collapsible garment hanger and more particularly, to a hanger for “pullover” garments such as T-shirts, polo style shirts, golf and tennis shirts, turtlenecks, sweatshirts, some sweaters and other garments.
2. Other Related Applications.
The present non-provisional patent application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of Provisional Application No. 61/455,173, filed on Oct. 15, 2010, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
3. Description of the Related Art.
There exist many garment hangers performing the function of hanging an article of clothing. Frequently, when hanging “pullover” garments such as T-shirts, polo style shirts, golf and tennis shirts, turtlenecks, sweatshirts, some sweaters and other garments, conventional hangers do not work well and may stretch, deform and possibly damage the garment. To avoid such problems would require the user to insert and feed the hanger up through the bottom of the garment, an awkward and time-consuming procedure.
A variety of “collapsible” hangers designed to solve the problems associated with conventional “non-collapsible” hangers have been proposed in which the two hanger arms are movable between an extended position and a collapsed position. While they may facilitate the process of hanging garments in theory, they are often complex in design, construction and not easily used by the consumer. Many are not durable and have multiple flimsy hinges, and many are not possible to manufacture in a cost effective manner. Additionally, none of the prior art embodiments provides for simple removal of the garment from the hanger, with one hand and without removing the hanger from the closet rod or hanger rack. All existing embodiments require two hands to remove the garment from the hanger, one hand to hold the garment and one hand to operate the hanger and many necessitate the removal of the hanger from the closet rod or hanger rack.
Thus, while complicated and uncomplicated collapsible hangers have been proposed, none have succeeded in providing a simple, durable, user friendly hanger that can be commercially manufactured in a cost effective manner. These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention.